This invention relates to an improved means of packaging shirred cellulose casing, normally referred to as skinless sausage casing.
Tubular cellulosic casing is well-known, and has been widely used for many years by numerous manufacturers. The basic process for manufacturing regenerated cellulosic casings is through the well-known viscose process, which creates a liquefied colloidal dispersion of cellulose fibers in an alkaline liquid carrier. Viscose is described in U.K. Patent 8700 to Cross, Bevan and Beadle, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,036,282 to Lilienfield refines the viscose compositions. U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,070,776; 1,158,400; and 1,163,740 to Cohoe and Fox describe use of viscose to manufacture a tubular cellulosic casing. Henderson provides basic technology to manufacture viscose into tubular casings, with regenerating baths contacting the inner and outer surfaces of the tube in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,601,686; 1,612,508; 1,645,050; and 1,654,253.
Very specific details for manufacture of modern-day casings from viscose into regenerated cellulose are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,999,756 and 2,999,757 to Shiner; 3,835,113 to Burke; 4,590,107 to Bridgeford; 4,778,639 to Jon; and 5,358,765 to Markulin. All of these patents describe extruding viscose (sodium cellulose xanthate, sodium hydroxide, water) through an annular die, into a coagulating and regenerating bath, to produce a regenerated cellulosic tubular casing.
The artificial sausage casing is conventionally shirred, where long tubular lengths are compacted to provide shorter, coherent tubes. The coherency is important, so the casing stick is straight and rigid, and is difficult to achieve considering the shirring operation includes moisturizing and oil addition. The shirring operation is illustrated U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,001,461; 2,010,626; 2,583,654; 2,722,714; 2,983,949; 3,110,058; 3,397,069; 3,454,982; and 3,898,348.
Small diameter shirred food casings must be packaged for distribution and sale, and this packaging is critical to the performance when the shirred product is filled with meat paste using high speed filling machines. The casing has a thickness of 20 to 40 microns and can be damaged easily. The casing may be used from one day to up to one year past shirring so, in the meantime, the shirred casing sticks must be rigidly supported to prevent dimension deformation, survive the rigors of transportation, and yet be easily dispensed without much waste packaging.
The stuffing operation will handle casing sticks typically from 265 mm length to 546 mm length, containing casing from 16.5 meters up to, and in excess of, 69 meters. Thus, one shirred casing stick could provide in excess of 500 frankfurters.
Many factors are required of packaging:
Rigid support of casing sticks, to prevent lateral abrasion and motion, and dimensional changes such as curving, bowing, and casing stick coherency loss (pleats un-nest and come apart);
Retention of moisture in the shirred casing stick;
Easy opening and dispensing;
Easy disposal or recyclability;
Minimum package volume, for easy transportation and storage;
Support for normal length and diameter variations of the shirred product; and
Protection against casing sticks accidentally being wetted in the stuffing room.
It is convention to package the shirred casing sticks in quantities of fifty sticks, called a caddy. Multiple caddies then make a carton, with typical cartons containing four, six or eight caddies, depending upon weight and convention. Meat packers prefer the fifty casing sticks per caddy size, for ordering and recordkeeping, and for conventional experience, but in some cases caddies of twenty-five or thirty-five casing sticks are used. Often, cartons are opened outside of the meat kitchen and caddies are individually carried into the kitchen. Sometimes, entire cartons are brought in.
Various packaging alternatives have been used. Simple bundling of tubular items is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,251,598; 2,181,329; 2,794,544; and 3,028,952 show a means to package casing sticks in a caddy, allowing external holes for moisturizing post-packaging. Multilayer packages are illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,682,475 and 3,233,815. Foam-padded cartons are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,979,246. U.S. Pat. No. 3,148,992 shows pulling a leading or tail end into a caddy to package the shirred casing sticks. U.S. Pat. No. 3,206,020 shows shrink wrapping of tubular products. U.S. Pat. No. 3,218,764 shows overwrapping cylindrical tubes with a container, creating a circular cross section, cylindrically-shaped package. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,250,629 and 3,271,168 show adding moisturizing agents inside the package, to increase shirred casing moisture in the package. U.S. Pat. No. 3,321,072 shows a cardboard caddy which can dispense from the top or the sides. U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,322 shows a caddy with the shirred casing sticks overwrapped in a plastic sling and a telescoping box caddy being used. U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,305 shows adding foam into the caddy for casing stick cushioning. U.S. Pat. No. 3,528,825 shows individual shrink overwrapping for each shirred casing stick. U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,989 shows a telescoping box caddy, with side dispensing option. U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,351 shows a primarily plastic caddy, with shrink plastic overwrap. U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,187 shows a vacuum evacuated caddy. U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,513 discloses a tear-open carton.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,137,153; 5,228,572; 5,356,007; 5,381,643; 5,382,190; 5,391,108; and 5,467,576 all show various versions of an all-plastic hexagon caddy, some with easy-open adhesive tapes and others with perforated openings.
The above patents disclose various methods of using cardboard and plastic. However, many deficiencies have been noted. First, regarding the all-plastic caddies, they generally have a hexagonal shape to ensure the plastic overwrap is tightly bundled around the casing stick. Without the benefit of cushioning or cardboard, the plastic must be maintained tight around the casing sticks, to prevent any motion. Conventional cartons are rectangular in shape, so when hexagonal caddies are inserted, there are airspaces and gaps which allow undesirable motion. The hexagonal caddies are not easily reusable, and once opened do not store partial caddies well. The plastic, which is covered with mineral oil, is not biodegradable as is paper, and cannot often be recycled. Further, the casing sticks can enter the caddy very warm, often reaching 55 degrees Celsius, and can stick to the plastic, particularly when the plastic is heat shrunk around the casing stick.
Thus, there is a need for a conventionally sized casing caddy that provides support for the casings during shipping and handling while retaining moisture for the casing sticks.